1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing method, an image processing apparatus, and a storage medium readable by a computer.
2. Related Background Art
When an image recorded on a source document, such as a film or a printed object, is read by a scanner and inputted into a computer as a digital image, it is only natural that an image with dusts, trash particles, or the like adhering to it (hereinafter, referred to as a trash image) is mixed with the digital image if the image is read together with them still remaining on the source document. For example, if a source document is a negative film, dusts or trash particles adhering to the film often appear as the trash image of white dots or white string on the digital image.
Fundamentally, the "trash image" is an image which is not contained in the source document as information. It is derived not only from some dusts or trash particles adhering to a film as described above or from scratches on the film, but also, from noises mixed in the signals transmitted when reading a source document.
However, it has been unable to remove different kinds of trash images efficiently, while maintaining the image quality by suppressing the deterioration thereof.